Who Am I?
by Kawakine Alice
Summary: A new character... Or two! What could happen? And what are their secrets? Please give me your support. I started this a year ago, actually, and just recently started writing it again... Rated T just because.  DISCONTINUED- Due to severe writer's block and lack of motivation.
1. Intro

Intro

Ran's cellphone rang.

"Hello? Ran speaking… Oh, hi! It's been a while, Yuuki. I haven't heard from you since you

moved! How are you doing? Oh, I'm not busy…"

Ran talked on the phone for a few minutes. "Yeah, it should be okay. I'll have to check first

though, but I should be able to. Anyway, I'll pick her up after school tomorrow and ask my dad." Ran

hung up. She turned around and saw Conan sitting on the couch.

"Who was that?" Conan looked at Ran.

"A friend from a while ago, we were just talking."

Conan stared at her with a disbelieving face.

"You'll see tomorrow…" Ran looked mysterious. "It'll be fun."

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Short huh? Now keep going! (I don't own Detective Conan!)

AND: Thanks to Ayaia of the Moon for beta-ing up to and including chapter 3. :D :D :D I will keep writing on my own after that to see how it turns out. Thanks for all the support, everyone~!


	2. Chapter 1 Introductions

Chapter one

**_After_****_ school_**

Ran and Sonoko walked out of the main building. A small crowd had gathered around the basketball courts, and they were going to check what it was. As Ran looked around, she spotted a kid playing with a basketball.

Ran heard random comments from the crowd. "Wow, that girl can play basketball really well!"

"Hey, Ran, is that the kid you were supposed to pick up?" Sonoko asked. "You know, she reminds of someone I know."

"You're right! Let's go introduce ourselves." Ran walked forward, fighting her way through the small but tight crowd.

The little girl looked up. To most people, she looked about seven years old, and her eyes looked as if she had many secrets. She had long, black hair which covered her face when it blew around in the wind. There were headphones around her neck, and her hands were playing with the basketball.

Ran halted. "Umm, excuse me; are you Sakura Yuuki's sister?"

Sonoko gasped. "You didn't tell me Yuuki had a sister! Why didn't you tell me? That would have been totally awesome to be able to throw that in her face!"

"That's because she didn't want me to tell others. Anyway," she turned to the girl. "You are, right?"

"That's right." The girl looked down, as if she was embarrassed. "I'm Alice."

Ran smiled. "You remind me of Sakura, talking in that way." She suddenly gasped when she realized she was talking aloud.

Alice looked up defiantly. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No, no! Just, oh, never mind. Let's go to my place, huh?" Ran took Alice's hand. Sonoko looked at the both of them.

"Can I come too? It'd be nice to hear how Yuuki's doing since she transferred to another school." Sonoko was now curious, but her phone rang. "Oh, it's Makoto-san! Well, I guess I'll come another time then."

Sonoko waved goodbye and left. Ran waved back, and turned to Alice. What she saw surprised her. Alice was staring off into the distance, just like what Yuuki used to do. She was so like her sister. But then again, Ran thought, sisters tend to be alike in some ways.

"You were going to take me to your place, right?" As the girl spoke, she played with the basketball in her hands.

"Y-yeah." Ran was distracted for a moment, and then shook herself. _No,__she__can't__be,__she__can't__be__Yuuki,__they're__just__sisters.__But__then__again,__Conan__and__Shinichi__are__alike__too...__Ran__shook__her__head.__I__don__'__t__think__so.__But__when__Shinichi__gets__home,__he__'__s__going__to__be__in__BIG__trouble__for__being__away__so__long._

At the Mouri Detective Agency, Conan was on the couch, reading a mystery book, and Detective Mouri was at his desk. Ran opened the door.

"Hi, I'm back!" She smiled, and pushed Alice into the room.

"Hey, who's she?" Detective Mouri and Conan were wondering the same question. Detective Mouri glared at Alice. "She'd better not be another freeloader."

"No, she's not! She's Sakura Alice." Ran patted Alice's head. "Alice, this is my dad, the detective Mouri Kogoro. This is Edogawa Conan, and he's living with us at the moment. Why don't you get to know Conan-kun?"

Until then, Conan was watching in interest. Then he jumped up with a start. "I just remembered that I need to go to Professor's place for something!" He put his book down and ran for the door. _I__don__'__t__feel__like__playing__with__other__young__kids__today._Ran stopped him.

"Why don't you take Alice with you? I need to talk to Dad, and you could introduce her to Ai-chan," Ran asked Conan. "Please?"

"Uh, I guess I could," he said, then looked at Alice. She looked at him. Ran put her hand on Alice's shoulder and pushed her forward. Conan sighed and walked out the door. Alice followed.

On the way to Professor's house, Conan and Alice walked in silence. The basketball was under Alice's arm, and she started playing with it, doing crazy tricks. Conan watched her play. _That's__odd,__I__don't__think__a__girl__her__age__could__play__that__well.__Well,__I__guess__she__practices__a__lot,__then._ "I'm Edogowa Conan. Hey, how old are you?"

"I'm seven."

"I am too," _Wow,__she__doesn't__seem__to__like__to__talk__a__lot._"Are you going to go to Teitan Elementary?"

"Yeah. Who's Ai?

_She's__a__girl__that__'__s__actually__18._"She's a girl in my class. Her name's Haibara Ai."

They arrived at Agasa's house. Conan glanced at Alice. "Here's Professor Agasa's house." They walked inside. Conan found Professor working on some prototype thing. "Do you know where Haibara is?"

"I think she's in her room. Who's this?" Professor Agasa looked at Alice.

"I'm Alice." Alice looked down again. It was pretty apparent that she didn't like talking to people she didn't know. At the same time, Haibara came out of her room. She stopped in front of Alice. Her eyes narrowed, and Alice looked up and then looked away. Alice balled her fists and then uncurled them. Haibara looked at Conan and made a shrugging motion, then walked back to her room.

"This Haibara person seems a little… cold," Alice said shrugging.

Conan replied, "That's how she is with most people."

"I'll wait for you outside; tell me when you're done with whatever you're doing." Alice walked out of the room casually.

"That girl, Alice-kun, also seems a bit cold," Professor Agasa said. "You'd best keep an eye on her."

"I already am," Conan said with a serious face. "I'm not going to let my guard down. She might be an Organization member. We can never be too careful."

**_Outside_**

As Alice stood outside, her face was a mix of emotions. _I__wonder__if__she__still__remembers__that__day,__so__many__years__ago.__I__wonder__if__she__even__remembers__that__I__exist._ She started pacing around, dribbling the basketball. She was so lost in her thoughts that she accidently bumped into someone. "Ah, sorry… Oh, wait, Haibara? You remembered!"

"Do I know you?" Haibara asked.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and I at least know you well enough to know that was sarcasm. Do you hate me for disappearing that day ten years ago? Or, did you just forget because you're too busy with work at the Black Organization?"

"I ran away from that Organization, if you're wondering."

Alice grinned. "That's great! Now we're both outcasts! Tell me the story at some other time."

"That is really not something to joke about."

Suddenly, Alice pushed Haibara toward the back of the building. "Haibara, go hide or something. Now. There's someone coming, and I don't like the feel of it."

Haibara made a perplexed face but went around to the back. Alice watched the gates tensely. Subaru Okiya came in. "Oh, are you a friend visiting Haibara?"

Alice said nothing, but backed away. He went inside, and Conan came out. She pushed her hair behind her ear, and Haibara nodded from behind the building, searched her pockets, and pulled out a note. Conan didn't notice anything strange, but said, "Let's go."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Thanks to Ayaia of the Moon for taking the time to beta this! I'm going to take some time editing my works. All of my ideas are being bottled up, but please be patient, all! :) Thanks to all who are still with me, which is probably not very much...


	3. Chapter 2 Let's Go Camping, Everyone!

Chapter 2

Conan and Alice went back to the Mouri Detective Agency. Ran smiled, and said, "Alice, you can stay! Isn't that great?"

Alice nodded. Conan said, "Hey, Ran-neechan, the person you were talking to yesterday was Alice's sister, right? So, where is she?"

Ran thought for a moment. "Well, she said that she had something to do in America, and I know that she has no parents or relatives here in Japan, so she asked me to take care of Alice, since she couldn't take her with her to America."

Alice looked away. "Ah, look at the time. It's getting late; shouldn't we get to bed?"

"Yeah, and where is she going to sleep?" Conan was curious.

"She's going to be in my room." Ran said. "You know, it feels like I now have two younger siblings. This is fun!"

Alice just looked at her. "Do you like ghost stories? I love telling them, you know. It's really fun to see people's faces when I tell these stories."

Ran looked at her nervously.

Later, after everyone had taken a shower, Alice was in Ran's room. She looked around and took in everything. Ran came in.

"Hey, I think there's something under your bed." Alice said, looking casual. "Can you check for me?"

"I'm pretty sure I didn't put anything under the bed," said Ran, looking unsure. She went under the bed and looked around. She didn't see anything. "Seriously, you had me scared for a moment there, Alice." Ran looked back at Alice, who had her back facing her. Alice turned around.

"Really?"

Ran looked at her and screamed.

"Is that really enough to scare you? It's just a mask," Alice said, amused. She pulled off the 'scary' mask. "Can we get some sleep now?"

"Can you sleep on the bed with me? I want you to, actually. It's cold on the floor. Besides, it makes really feel like you're my sister!" Ran beamed nervously.

"Is it because you're afraid of ghosts? Sure." Alice looked at Ran. Again, it struck Ran that Alice was so alike to Yuuki. Ran turned off the lights, and they climbed into bed.

_**The next day**_

"Oh, I forgot, Professor was going to take the Detective Boys to go camping today!" Conan rushed around. "Oh, and Alice, you're invited too, we were talking about that yesterday."

"That's great, but she's going to need at least a sleeping bag, right?" Ran asked, concerned. "It's also a bit of a sudden notice, but I think Alice should go and get to know more people from the school she's going to start attending."

Alice found an extra blanket in the closet, and held it up for Ran to see. "I can use this blanket. Besides, I usually end up not sleeping at camping events." She folded it up, and grabbed her backpack and followed Conan outside.

Later, at Professor Agasa's place, the Detective Boys were already all there. "Sorry I'm late! I completely forgot about this." Conan apologized.

"Conan! You shouldn't forget about this stuff! Otherwise, you can't be a good detective!" Genta said in an annoyed tone. "You made us wait a long time!"

"It wasn't that long! It was only about five minutes. Right, Mitsuhiko?" Ayumi asked. "Oh, who's that?" She pointed at Alice.

"That's Alice." Haibara came forward. "She's going to start at our school on Monday. Be nice to her."

Alice looked at Agasa's car. She noticed that it would only fit six people, normally. She pointed that out. "I guess I could stay in the trunk," she offered. "Or I could just not go."

"No, I borrowed a friend's car. There it is, over there." Agasa pointed at a different car. "We should get going; otherwise we won't have time to do what I planned to do." Everyone got into the car.

It was a pretty quiet ride, and everyone ended up falling asleep, except for Agasa, Conan, and Haibara. Haibara looked at Alice and smiled. _It's been a long time. You owe me an explanation later, Alice._ She looked at Conan. For some reason, he was being quit and looked like he was thinking hard.

"Hey, Haibara, did you know Alice in the past?" The question surprised Haibara.

"That's for you to find out."

"Ha ha, that was very helpful information," Conan said sarcastically. "Can't you tell me something? You've been acting really weird lately, like, you've been in a good mood a lot since Alice came."

Haibara had an amused expression on her face. "Can't I smile if I want to? As for info, she likes music. Oh, and she's really good at acting?"

"That's pretty obvious, why would she wear headphones all the time otherwise?" Conan scoffed. After that, they rode in silence.

When they arrived at the place where they were going to camp, Agasa parked the car. Everyone got out and looked around. It was a big forest, and there was a path leading somewhere.

"Okay, everyone! Let's get all our stuff and get to the clearing that I found when I was planning our camping trip. When we do get there, I have an activity planned. Make sure to not forget anything you need on the car, otherwise we'll have to make the trip back here." Everyone looked excited.

As they walked, everyone enjoyed the scenery. Ayumi walked next to Alice, and tried to talk to her. "I'm Ayumi, that's Mitsuhiko, and that's Genta." She pointed at each one in turn. "Do you like mysteries? Conan-kun is really good at solving things."

"Mysteries are okay." Conan heard Alice say. _She sounds like she's lying… Maybe she isn't as good at acting as Haibara thought._

The clearing that Agasa had found was pretty big, and perfect for camping. "Let's set things up, and we'll do the activity I mentioned. Hmm, it looks like it's going to rain…"

After the tent was set up and everyone had eaten something, it was time for whatever Agasa had planned, but it had started raining. "Hey, Professor Agasa, what were we going to do if it hadn't rained?" Ayumi asked. "What should we do now?"

"Well, we were going to do a treasure hunt, but right now let's go in the tent. At least it's waterproof."

Inside the tent, everyone sat in a circle. Alice put on her headphones and started listening to music. "Hey, Sakura-san, why don't you tell us about yourself? We don't know you very well." Mitsuhiko asked. Everyone nodded.

"Where should I start?" Alice mused. "Okay, I like to camp in the wild like this because I used to do it a lot. I like to sing and listen to music, but I'd rather not sing in front of people I don't know very well. I'm more of a solitary person. I was born in California, in America. Ah, I don't have parents. My sister is awesome. Hmm, I can't really think of what else to say." Alice stopped.

"Do you like bugs? We like to go camping in the summer to find and collect beetles!" Genta smiled at the thought of beetles.

Alice shuddered. "Ah, bugs and I don't mix, especially spiders."

Ayumi thought for a moment. "Sakura-chan, can you sing something for us? I want to hear you sing!"

"No. You can listen to my sister's singing though." She handed the headphones to Ayumi. Alice chose a song from her playlist. "Listen to this one."

Conan watched Ayumi. "What's the song?" he asked Alice.

"I'm not telling you because it's not released yet," she answered.

"I think I know the singer!" Ayumi exclaimed. "Who's your sister?"

"I'd rather not say. I'll give you a clue. She loves mysteries."

Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko thought together. "Who could she be?" Conan also thought. _Her sister's in America. She sings, she loves mysteries. Could it be?_

"Need a hint? I'll give you a big one." Alice took her headphones and handed it to them.

_This voice…! I know this person; I didn't know she had a sister._

"Give up?"

"No way!" The Detective Boys just wouldn't give up. They thought really hard. "Yeah, well, we give up."

"Well, she's mostly known for her detective work, her name's Sakura Yuuki."

"Seriously?" Mitsuhiko asked. "My sister was listening to her songs the other day."

Conan was silent, deep in thought. Haibara grinned. _This is interesting. Sakura, you're giving yourself away. _Alice glared at her, and Haibara looked at her, and made a face like _you sure want him to know who you really are?_ And Alice shrugged. Conan caught them looking at each other. They immediately looked away.

"You're sister is a detective, right? Doesn't that mean you're good at mysteries too?" Mitsuhiko thought out loud.

"Not necessarily," said Alice. "It is fun to watch people solve cases though. I even get them right sometimes!"

Ayumi bounced with excitement. "Then why don't you join the Detective Boys? It's really fun, everyone at school knows of us. They put requests in Genta-kun's locker to have us help them solve a case!"

"Hold on. We should make a test to see if she's worthy to join. After all, we can't have just anyone joining when they feel like it, right?" Conan put his opinion in. "That is, if she wants to join."

Alice shrugged. "Sure, but what's the test? I want to see if I'm smart enough."

"I know! How about an eating contest? I'm hungry…" Genta exclaimed.

"Genta! That's so like you! Why would a girl want to eat as much as you do?" Mitsuhiko scolded him. "What about a test where we test her school skills? You know, like school standards, so we can see if she can stay above her studies while working as a member of the Detective Boys."

"How about having her finish the packet that Kobayashi-sensei gave to us Detective Boys? It's supposed to cover a bunch of detective and mystery stuff," Conan suggested.

"All right! I have mine with me!" Mitsuhiko took his out. "But, is she supposed to write on mine?"

"I'll use a separate piece of paper." Alice took the study guide from him. Five minutes later, she was done. "That was way too easy." She gave her paper to the Professor and he checked it.

"I personally think that she passed. She got a perfect score, didn't she?" Professor Agasa said. "What do you all think?"

"Even I didn't get some of the questions in the packet." Mitsuhiko was dumbfounded, even as the smartest of the three. "So yeah, I think that she's good enough to be part of our group."

"Well, it's official then. I planned ahead and thought you guys would do this, so here you go!" Professor Agasa gave Alice the Detective Badge. "Do you need me to tell you how to use it?"

"No, it's fine. I'll catch on quickly." Alice slipped the badge into her pocket. "You guys, you _do_ know it has stopped raining, right?"

"Really? Has it really?" Everyone looked outside. "How'd you know, Alice?" Ayumi was curious.

"Simple. The sound of rain ceased."

Night came, and everyone went to lay out their sleeping bags. "Darn, the ground's still damp. I wanted to sleep outside." Genta complained.

"It's a bad idea to sleep outside, you might catch a cold. Unless it's summer, it's probably too cold anytime else." Haibara said. Everyone lay down in the tent. Haibara and Alice were next to each other, Conan noticed. _I'll keep an eye on them. Seriously, Alice is rather suspicious…_

Soon everyone was asleep, all except one person. Alice got up and quietly exited the tent.

"Hold it."  
>Alice gasped and turned around. "Haibara! You gave me the fright of my life!" she whispered.<p>

"Not my fault."

"True. Anyway, can you come with me, since you're also awake? I heard something in the forest."

"No! You don't know what's outside! There could be a bad person, or-"

"That's not what I meant. I thought I heard a distressed animal."

"Fine, I'll go with you. How'd you know my weakness of animals?"

"Because you've always been like that." Alice beamed, and led the way.

"Look! There." Alice pointed.

"You sure do know your way around this forest. Have you been here before?"

"Yeah, many times. See that deer? I think it's trapped!" Alice ran over. "It's leg is stuck!" She noticed the trap that had caught the deer's leg. "And I thought hunting was banned here! Stupid trap. Luckily, I have a tool set." She started muttering stuff about how terrible these traps were, especially on banned hunting land.

"Do you seriously bring that with you all the time? The tool set, I mean?" Haibara asked, incredulous.

"Nah, not unless I'm going to a forest where hunting is banned. Besides, people used to listen to me…" Alice trailed off. She shook her head and went to work on disabling the trap.

"You mean when you were shrunk, right? You still owe me an explanation for when you disappeared. Doing this seriously reminds me of better times."

"Realize that I only started doing this for you." Alice finished and let the deer go. "Bye bye! And be careful next time!" She smiled and turned back to Haibara. "Yeah, I'll explain. Let's go to a secret clearing that I had found a while back."

As they were walking, Alice kept glancing around. "What's wrong?" Haibara asked. "You look all fidgety."

"I keep thinking that someone is following us. Hmm, must be my imagination." Alice stopped looking around, but she was still jumpy. They reached the clearing. It was really pretty, with tall, green grass, and trees surrounding the circle. Moonlight shone down into the middle of the clearing. "Hey, it's dry even though it was raining!" Alice exclaimed.

"Will you just explain your story already? I have no idea what had happened to you since you disappeared, and then there are those years I spent wondering; now you show up as a kid!" Haibara shook her head. "Sorry, I'm just impatient today."

"That's fine. But first, Conan, stop hiding in the shadows."

"Ehh? You noticed me?" He came out from behind the trees. He was surprised. "I didn't expect that."

"Yeah, it's because I've got crazy senses. No, it's because I found the tracker you put on me, and I know this place like the back of my hand. I love this place. I'm pretty sure you've figured me out, then?"

"Partially. The part I don't get is why you're here and why I don't remember a Sakura Yuuki at Teitan High."

"Well, let's hear you're deduction. How much have you figured out?" Haibara asked. "Is it really that obvious that she's like us?"

"Of course it was! She was dropping so many hints! What I can figure out from these hints is that she was in some kind of trouble in America, most likely to be some kind of Black Organization trouble. She came here to Japan to try to escape, but instead walked right into a trap. They found that she was trying to get more information, and they fed her the drug and left her to die. She didn't die, and instead shrunk. She called Ran by somehow changing her voice, and managed to let her 'sister' stay with Ran for a while." He thought some more. "Haibara seemed to be in a good mood these days after you came to visit, so I figured that she had somehow had known you in the past. It seemed obvious that you two probably went to the same school in America. Did I miss anything?"

"Nah, I'd say that was a great deduction. It would be nice if you talked like I was actually here though. Based on your deduction, I will deduce that you are the shrunken form of Kudo Shinichi." She pointed at Conan. He jumped, as he was not expecting her to announce it quite like that. "Well, never mind that, I'll figure more out later. As for my story, I will explain in detail because I owe it to Haibara. I will do my best to tell the whole story. I will leave out parts that I don't want to say.

"It's true that Haibara and I were in the same school. We were like best friends, but we were only in the same school because of our parents. You recall that Haibara's father was a scientist for the Black Organization? My father was like that too, but on a much higher level. I really don't believe him to be my father; he was a crazy man. Anyway, I became a pawn of the Black Organization, and they tried to, ah, experiment on me. This was before the Organization's current project, which involves something completely different. I guess you could say they tried to test drugs and things of that sort on me."

She glanced at Haibara, who nodded. She continued: "At ten years old, I ran away because I couldn't take it anymore. I went to Japan, to start again. I had no idea that Japan was where the Black Organization was strongest. That was just stupid of me. I came in the middle of sixth grade, and I went to three different schools, for I was afraid the Organization was watching me. For sixth through eighth grades, I went to a school in Osaka. Then I moved to Tokyo for ninth through tenth grade, at Teitan High. In eleventh, which I currently am in, for I am a second year high school student, I went to Ekoda High. I have to say, I made some really good friends at school. During my second year in high school though, I began to wonder if the Black Organization or my father was looking for me because I could see no sign of them following me around. So I decided to take a risk, and try to find more on the Black Organization. I went a little too far, and I'd rather not be detailed on how I failed and got shrunk. I knew that Haibara was somewhere in Japan, I was trying to find her. Sometimes I feel like I wasted ten years of my life."

Back at the campsite, everyone went back into the tent. Alice stayed outside and looked at the stars. _So pretty, if only I could see the stars in America, I might've stayed. No, I probably wouldn't have._ _So many stars… It makes me feel so small, an ant in the huge universe…_

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Haha, my imagination is so weird... I don't think I can really do anything about that though. There's still more! It's probably rather short, compared to most other stories... Are you enjoying this so far?

I'd like to have all of you remember, I'm young. And this is my first fanfiction. Ever. So, please be patient with my writing skills. And maybe my inability to describe things in perfect detail? I don't know if that's true... Oh, and reviews! Please review! I'll be able to improve my writing that way! Thank you all!_  
><em>


	4. Chapter 3 WHAT! Another one? Why?

**A/N: **You gotta remember, this is my first fanfiction I've ever written!

* * *

><p>Chapter 3<p>

On the way home the very next day, Alice sat next to Haibara and Ayumi. "Oh, Sakura-chan," Ayumi began.

"Just call me Alice."

"Oh, okay. Alice, our teacher is technically the manager of the Detective Boys, so I hope you'll be in our class. Then all the Detective Boys will be all together in one class."

"That would be nice, wouldn't it?" Haibara looked at Alice. "Oh, I think think there's something on your head."

"Wha?" Alice found something. She looked at it and screamed. "S-S-SPIDER! AGGHH!" She fumbled with it and it dropped to the floor.

"That's a plastic spider, idiot!" Haibara said with a straight face.

Alice glared at her. "Just because I hate bugs doesn't mean you have to play pranks on me! Where did this plastic spider come from, anyway? It's not like you actually planned this, did you?"

"I had one for a while." _It's just like old times, I can't remember how many times I pulled this off on her!_

The Detective Boys stared. It seemed that Alice was definitely a contribution to the team. Conan cleared his throat. "Anyway, we're back at Agasa's house."

Everyone said goodbye and left. Haibara, Conan, and Alice was left standing in front of Agasa's house. Alice noticed the big house next door. "Hey, isn't that where you used to live, _Conan_?"

"When did I give you permission to call me by my first name?"

"Well, it's not your _real_ name, but, is it your house?"

"Yeah. Currently, Subaru Okiya is living there."

"Subaru Okiya?" Alice tilted her head. "Haibara, what's he like?"

"It feels like a Black Organization member. I can't be sure though, I only feel it at certain times."

Alice looked at the house. "I'm going in there, to check it out. Anyone want to come with me?"

Conan looked exasperated. "A Sherlock Holmes fan can't be bad!"

"Oh, is that right? Just because they like Sherlock Holmes doesn't mean they don't do bad things." Alice started for the gate. "Do you think it's a coincidence that he wants to borrow the great high school detective's house, which is right next to where the runaway from the Black Organization currently lives?"

Conan frowned. "What do you think it is?"

"Well, I do happen to know that a new member was recruited, and his code name is Bourbon. He is rather like detective; you've seen his deductions. Other than that, I don't know anything else." They stopped in front of the house's gates. "Well, anyone coming with me? After all, it'd be weird to for me be caught and not have an excuse to be in the house."

"Fine. We'll all go. Conan has to come because he's the one who let him stay in the house. So what are we going to say if we get caught?" Haibara asked seriously.

"Let's just wing it. So, just go along with what I say, okay?"  
>They walked into the house. Conan sighed. "So, what kind of evidence are you looking for?" They kept walking. Alice said nothing, but looked around. When they got to the room with all the books, they stopped. Alice walked toward the desk.<p>

"I'll assume you're not the one who left this bottle of wine here, right, Conan?"

"Of course I didn't leave that! I'm underage, and don't buy wine. But that's really strange, why would he drink bourbon...?"

"Then, that would make this Subaru Okiya guy even more suspicious. That new guy at the Black Organization, wasn't his code name Bourbon?"

"Yeah. Seriously, it's got to be a coincidence! He's really a good guy!"

"Keep it down, don't shout." Alice made a shushing motion. "I think someone's coming." They all stopped moving and moved to the center of the room.

Subaru Okiya came into the room. "Huh, what's all this? What are you guys doing here?"

Alice gave an 'I'm so innocent' smile. "We're doing a group book report. Conan here said that he knew a good place to find great mystery books. This library is huge!"

Haibara hid behind Conan. There was just something about him that seemed to give off bad vibes. Conan randomly selected a book. "Hey, I think this book will work! Can we go now!"

"Sorry if we were a bother!" They all walked out. "That was close. What was that, back there? You think he would fall for that fake acting?" Haibara thought that was a bit ridiculous.

"Hey, calm down. What book did you grab? Oh, Conan Doyle, I see," Alice saw.

"I just randomly picked one, and it's Sherlock Holmes. Interesting. Let's just go home already!" Conan was getting really impatient.

Haibara glanced at Alice, and Alice shrugged. Haibara rolled her eyes and went back to Agasa's place. Alice and Conan continued on to walk back to the Mouri Detective Agency. "So, anything?" Conan asked. "I still refuse to believe he's a bad guy. There has _got_ to be evidence, on whether he's a good or bad guy!"

"I still have to agree with Haibara. He's suspicious, he gives me that creepy feeling, and then it goes away. But, you can't rely on me for deciding. I wasn't officially with the Organization, don't you remember?" Alice said in an annoyed tone.

Conan felt that this was a hopeless case.

Ran was waiting for them in the office when they got back. "How was it?"

"It was fun! I learned a lot about what it's going to be like at school!" Alice gave another one of her innocent smiles. Conan rolled his eyes inwardly.

"It smells really weird in here, does Uncle drink a lot?" Alice shook her head. "Ran-oneesan, I'm going to go to your room, is that okay?"

"Uh, sure, ok," Ran looked confused. She watched Alice walk out of the room. "What's with her?"

"Just leave her alone. I'm going to go to the park to practice soccer. Bye!" Conan hurriedly ran out. He left Ran in the office, completely bewildered by the two children's behaviors. He closed the door behind him and crashed right into Mouri Kogoro.

"Yo, watch it!" Kogoro stepped aside. Conan ignored him and ran off. _Geez, he made me lose my train of thought. Darn, what exactly was I thinking of again?_

When he got to the park, he saw someone playing in the soccer field. _Oh well, even though I planned to be alone, I guess it wouldn't hurt to have someone to play with. _He noticed that the person was playing very badly. _Sheesh, I mind as well teach that person how to play as well… Wait… Isn't that-?"_

"Hi. I was wondering, how do you play soccer?" Alice walked up to him and tossed him a soccer ball. "You forgot this when you left the room saying you'll practice soccer." She picked up her basketball and walked toward the basketball courts. Conan followed her.

"When did you get here? I thought you were in Ran's room."

"That's the whole point. I ran outside instead of going to her room." Alice nonchalantly started shooting hoops. "I'm going to do something about that Black Organization. I hate running away."

"Didn't you already try something about that? Didn't you fail?" Conan pointed out.

"I'm sure you're also trying. I'll do anything to help, unless you don't want help?"

"I'm going to need all the help I can get."

There was silence. Then Alice threw the ball at Conan. He automatically used his feet to stop the ball.

"You need to work on basketball skills," Alice remarked.

"_You _need to work on your soccer," Conan retorted. Alice laughed and stole the soccer ball from Conan.

"No, I don't, that was only to get your attention." Alice passed the ball back to him. "Well, maybe I _do_ need to work on it. But I'm not really that bad at it, either. I'm going over to Haibara's."

"I'll be going back the Detective Agency."

"Be careful on your way back. I have a really weird feeling, I think something major is going to happen."

_**At School the Next day  
><strong>_

In class, there was a buzz. _There's going to be a new student!_ At least, that's what the Detective Boys were thinking. Word had passed around quickly. When the door opened, everyone looked expectantly. They got a big surprise. There were not only one, but two students with Kobayashi-sensei! One girl was Alice, that was to be expected, but the other one came as a complete new surprise. This girl had dirty blond hair tied up in a loose bun, and she seemed to be from another country. She was fashionably dressed in a pleated plaid scooter dress and knee-length leggings which made the girls in the class envy her. She was like a bright sun, lighting up the room with her aura. Alice, on the other hand, was plainly dressed in black jeans and a navy blue jacket with a hood. Her headphones were off that day. Her long waist-length black hair fell across her face, the picture of a shy student on a first day.

Alice was doing her best to get as far away from the other girl. Conan noticed that Alice seemed different that day. _I wonder why?_

"Hello class, today we have two new students! This," she gestured toward the blond haired girl, "is-"

"Hi! My name is Leiko! I look forward to meeting you all!" Leiko was very energetic, and seemed to have a slight Kansai dialect. Conan had a sudden thought. _Maybe she's from Osaka, that accent reminds me of Hattori…_

"And this is Sakura Alice, from America. Would you like to introduce yourself?"

"Nice to meet you." Alice spoke quietly, but with a small American accent. Leiko shot a glance at her. When Alice didn't seem to have any intention of saying anything else, Kobayashi-sensei sighed.

"Anyway, you two can go find a seat somewhere. We hope you settle in nicely!" Kobayashi-sensei seemed a little tired. _I wonder how many new students I'll get? It's hard when new students either likes to talk a lot or not at all!_

Leiko went for the corner seat in the back. She looked eager to learn, and kept glancing around the room. Alice sat in the back corner directly opposite from her, also in the back, next to a window. Alice didn't pay attention at all during class.

Finally, the bell rang to signal recess. The Detective Boys gathered around Conan's table and discussed some cases that had happened last month. "We don't seem to have many cases lately, huh?"

Mitsuhiko said. "But if we count the crime scenes that Conan's been to, we have so much more."

Alice put her opinion in. "Those don't really count do they? After all, the Detective Boys is a group. It sounds more fair to everyone to count the cases that everyone helped solve."

Leiko came over. "Hey, what are you guys doing? You guys seem to be good friends. I saw you guys whisper with each other during class a lot today!"

Ayumi got an idea. It was another of the same idea that she gets with new people. "How about you join the Detective Boys? Maybe if we have more people, we'll solve more cases!"

"Detective Boys?" Leiko was thoroughly intrigued. "Could I possibly join?"

The group put their heads together. It was unanimous, Leiko would join. After all, she could possibly be a good person to have around at crime scenes. Adults wouldn't be able to resist her sunny smile. "Come with us after school and we'll show you what we do!" Ayumi was the one who was the most excited. Leiko ran off, probably to go and meet other people at school. "She certainly is energetic," Alice muttered under her breath. She went to stand next to Ayumi.

"Ayumi-chan, you sure do like to recruit new students as members," Alice observed. "Is that wise?"

"Of course! It helps the new students feel more welcome! With us, they learn more about their surroundings, and they get to know more people. It also helps us get to know the new students better!"

_She's so naïve, _Alice thought. _She's never been with new people who are full of confidence and would shoot you down just for the spite of it. Or just for the fun of it._ She looked at Leiko, who was socializing with some other people. Conan walked up to Alice.

"What's with you today? You were doing your best to avoid her like she carried the flu or something. It's not like Leiko's an evil person."

"I just got a feeling, that I wouldn't be able to tolerate her very well."

"Anyway, I've been wondering about your backpack. Why is it full of stuff? It looks heavy," he said, picking it up, "But it isn't."

Haibara overheard their conversation. "Hey, Alice, you're feeling the same as me, huh? I keep feeling like something major has happened in our lives, but we don't know what it is."

"I think it's staring right at you in the face." Alice snuck a suspicious glance toward Leiko, who was now studying Haibara very carefully. "Well, who knows what will happen? Anyways, as to what's in my backpack, I'd rather you not open it."

Because she said that, Conan opened the backpack. "Well, all the necessities for running away, I see."

Alice shrugged and put away her backpack. "You never know when you're going to need something."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> This is IMPORTANT!~ Leiko does not belong to me. In fact, Leiko is a character from Cereal92!

We are both working on the same same story, except hers tells Leiko's part of the story. Anyway, go check it out! The title is 'The Black Organization's NOC'. I like Cereal92's stories a lot :D

I'm going to be reediting my chapters every now and then!

~Right now, I'm going LOL because I have no idea why I put Subaru Okiya into this story for. Oh well. See ya all in the next chapter! Hopefully will be up soon!


	5. Chapter 4 When it Rains

**A/N:** Hey all, back again! This is a chapter of randomness, I guess. But one part is important for the future, so you still have to read it! *grins*

And, thanks in advance for reading! Please review! Apologies for any grammar/spelling/punctuation mistakes. And please don't kill me later as plot develops... :3

DETECTIVE CONAN DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. Leiko belongs to Cereal92, and Alice/Yuuki belongs to me.

* * *

><p>Chapter 4<p>

Right when the bell rang, Leiko charged off toward the lockers. The Detective Boys found her already waiting for them, poking around the lockers.

"What are you doing, Leiko-chan?" Ayumi-chan asked.

"So, I'm in the Detective Boys Club now?" Leiko asked.

"Yeah. Oh, we'll tell you when we have a case. Today though, it looks like we have no requests," Conan pointed out, looking at Genta's locker.

"To tell you more about the Detective Boys, we work together to solve crimes, and we love helping others. We go camping with Professor Agasa, who makes us really cool gadgets!"

"Professor Agasa?" Leiko had never heard the name before.

"Oh, we need to get Leiko the Detective Badge. I think we'll be able to give it to you by tomorrow." Conan looked up at the sky. "Right now, I think we need to get home before we get soaked. Geez, the weather's been really bad these days."

Everyone started walking fast, using their backpacks to cover themselves from the rain. At one point, thunder boomed and Leiko gave a little shriek and grabbed onto Conan's shoulder.

"Ah, sorry," She apologized, trembling a little. Alice frowned.

Haibara saw her frown and made a questioning glance. When the time came, Alice tapped Conan's shoulder and motioned that she would be walking with Haibara to her house.

He shrugged, and went on by himself toward the Mouri Detective Agency.

For a weekend with bad weather, it was pretty bad. It rained nonstop and everyone was stuck indoors. Mouri Kogoro was bored out of his mind. He resorted to watching horse races on the TV, and betting money on the favored horse. So far, his luck hadn't changed.

"AGHHH! Why is it that the most favored horse never wins?" Kogoro smashed his fist against the table with drunken stupor.

"Oji-san, can't you tell by the way a horse acts before the race, it will probably affect the race?" Alice asked.

"Just because it's the most favored horse doesn't mean it will definitely win," Conan added.

"SHUDDAP! I'm going to do this my way!" Kogoro snapped as another race on a different channel began. His hand knocked over some cans of beer. "Oi Ran, can you get me another can…?"

"Absolutely not! You've had too much as it is!" Ran swept the cans into a trash can.

There was silence for a few moments, except for the blaring of the horse race announcer on the TV. Then Alice jumped up. "I'm going outside! And Oji-san, I think the brown horse will win!"

"But it's rain-

The door slammed shut.

"-ing… Geez, that kid!" Ran muttered. "At least she's wearing a jacket. Now that I've mentioned it, why _does_ she wear a jacket all the time?"

"Who knows?" Conan looked up from the book he was reading. "Maybe she just really likes jackets."

"I sort of doubt that, Conan-kun," Ran said, smiling. She looked out the window. "Oh, Alice is just standing in the rain…"

The rain came down, cool and hard. Alice looked up at the sky. The people passing around her looked at her for a bit before they continued on their way. It _is_ rather odd to see a kid just standing in the rain, after all. Alice didn't care. Ran came outside and dragged her back indoors. "Ran-oneesan, I don't want to go back in yet!"

"You're going to catch a cold! It's not fun to have a cold, you know!"

Alice sighed."Then can I take an umbrella?"

"Of course."

She ran inside, grabbed an umbrella, and ran outside again. This time, she ran off in a new direction.

Ran watched her run off. _Why does she seem so… distant all the time?_ She sighed.

_A few hours later and no longer in Tokyo~~  
><em>

The girl stopped in front of a big house. It was a modern beach house, and very airy, but the reason it looked airy was probably because of the windows. The windows stretched from the first floor all the way up to the second floor, and curtains hid the inside of the house. There were trees providing a large amount of shade around the house. Of course, it wasn't really the season for beach houses being winter and all. _Home sweet home, _Alice thought drily. _And I'm so glad I was the once who designed this house. It's so nice to be near the beach, all this water and everything. It's... soothing. Too bad I'm only able to live here during the summer. _In the mailbox, she found so many letters that she didn't even bother counting them. Holding them in her hands, she went through the back the back door.

The house was eerily quiet and cold. Alice walked in slowly, carefully looking around to find signs of intrusion, and found none. The bright wooden floor usually reflected the sunny light, but today the floor reflected the dark storm clouds. _It seems rather dull,_ Alice noticed. She walked up the stairs, up to her room. The windows in her room were facing the back yard, so no one would notice her unless her neighbors were watching. Looking outside carefully, she closed the curtains when she didn't see anything suspicious. Dropping the letters on a desk, she wandered her house for a little while. On days with bad weather, she always felt a certain way. She just couldn't describe it with words. _Wistful? Sad? Nostalgic? Meh, I give up._ Back in her room later, she looked through the stack of letters. _Huh, stupid ads, _she thought. She came across an interesting letter. _This looks very official, I guess. I'd better read it._ Inside was an invitation, to some event at Haido City Hotel. For some reason, it told her not to reply even if she was coming, because they wanted it to be a surprise. A big surprise. _That is VERY suspicious. I guess I could just show up and expect it to not be a trap? Oh well, that means I don't have to go through the trouble of saying I'm not maybe I _will _go. Just for a surprise I guess. But I guess I'd have to talk to Shiho about that. _

Outside, to which Alice was oblivious, someone was watching. And that someone, had no idea what was going on in Alice's head, but she had seen the same envelope that Alice was holding in many detective's mailboxes. She was not the person who had passed them out, but she knew what it was for. That'll definitely help me with my plans, the person thought. She ran off.

Standing up and stretching, Alice finished looking at the remaining letters, and hid them in a drawer. _Nah, I'll just trash the ads. _She walked out of the house, but kept the fancy invitation with her. Making sure she left no trace of anyone being there, she headed toward the nearest express train station.

Alice caught a glimpse of dirty blonde hair. _Leiko-chan? Nah, can't be, maybe another person…_ She kept walking. Back at the Detective Agency, Kogoro was in yet another one of his depressions of when the favored horse loses the race.

"Nee, Oji-san, which horse won?"

He muttered an incoherent reply.

"What was that?"

"The brown horse," he muttered.

Alice grinned, and went to Ran's room.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So, hey. I have a dream house, and I tried to describe it and make it into Alice's house. Well, I guess I still need to work on my description though. I wrote the description of the house, and found a good example of what I was thinking of: http:/ www. seeof. com/ modern-beach-house-architecture-by-richard-meier-and-michael-palladino/

(get rid of the spaces to go to the website)

So, I just thought I'd share that with you! I really want to live in a house like that. Except, I'd like some more tall trees around that house in the picture, otherwise I wouldn't feel like there's enough shade. I love to stand/sit under a tree and enjoy the coolness of the shade it provides. :3

By the way, I'm going to randomly update old chapters because every time I go back and read it, I realize there's some random stuff I want to add.


	6. Chapter 5 Before Alice

Chapter 5

_A little girl of about five years of age laughed. It was a truly joyful laugh, the kind that makes everyone around the person laugh too. _

Yuuki looked at some old pictures. There were hardly any, but just looking at them made her sad. She wanted to burn them, but at the same time she didn't want to, for she knew she would regret the choice later. They held so many memories, both happy and sad. She came across the last picture, and tears came to her eyes.

It was the only picture of her mother that still existed.

_ "Daddy, can you play with me?" A little girl looked up at her dad hopefully._

_ "No, Daddy has work," the man replied. He turned back to his desk and resumed doing his job. The girl frowned, and tugged on his lab coat. _

_ "You never have time," she pouted. When this didn't work, she walked outside by herself and entertained herself by playing with her stuffed bunny. She never understood why he never had time. Why couldn't he just ever take a small break to play with her? He was always doing work, and sometimes he didn't even come home from the lab. It was lonely, even with Mommy at home. _

_ A woman came over to the little girl. "Yuuki-chan, what's wrong?"_

_ "Mommy, Daddy won't play with me."_

"_Then, Mommy will play with you. Come, don't worry about Daddy, he's has some very important work," her mother said. The girl smiled. _

"_Okay, then let's go find Shiho! Then we can all play together!"_

Yuuki wiped away her tears. Memories are just memories. And that was all the way back in America. You can always make new ones, she told herself. She stared out at the ocean, a cloudy day at sea. The beach was like her backyard; there was almost never anyone around. It wasn't even private property.

_ The once happy five year old girl was now seven. There was no longer room for joy. Her mother had died, and her father was the same as always: doing his work. Did he even care? She was now crying herself to sleep at night. Shiho tried to comfort her. They were now pretty much best friends, but Shiho seemed to also be busy a lot of the time. She also seemed to be more attached to her sister. Still, they were there to support each other. _

Shiho, can I still count on you? Yuuki wondered. You've always been pretty nice to me.

_ "Daddy, what do you even _DO_ at work? You don't seem able to do anything else other than that, so I want to know why it's so important," Yuuki asked. _

_ "It's classified." Her father wouldn't meet her eyes. _

_ Yuuki grew even more suspicious. Ten years old, and she couldn't even know what her father did for work. She was embarrassed, she goes to school and she couldn't answer the simple question of "What does your father do for a job?" _

_ "And why would it be 'classified'?" _

_ "It has something to do with… experiments."_

_ "Don't tell me you do animal testing. That would suck so badly."_

_ There was no response. _

_ "Seriously? You're doing animal testing?"_

_ "Yuuki, go do homework, study Japanese, or something. My work is important, but there's no need to know what it exactly is."_

"_Shiho, do you know what your father's job is?" Yuuki asked, curious. Their fathers worked for the same company, after all. At least Yuuki _thought_ it was a company._

"_Some kind of scientist. I'm going to become one too, and I'm already starting to study for that. After all, we are ten years old. It's better to start planning for the future at this age."_

"_What kind of work do you think my father does?"_

"_Maybe the same thing?"_

_ One day, Yuuki disappeared. Shiho was worried, but she wasn't able to focus on that because of her work. She was to build on her father's work. The drug she creates would be known as APTX 4869, but she didn't know it at the time. After all, how could one predict the future? Shiho occasionally saw Yuuki's father, but wasn't able to find time to ask about Yuuki. Hoping she was alright, Shiho put her energy into her work. _

_ A few weeks went by, and Yuuki came back, but no one but Shiho knew._

_She seemed oddly detached from the world. What in the world happened? _

_ Yuuki told her what had happened during those few weeks, the unimaginable. Shiho was reluctant to believer her story, but Yuuki showed her proof. _

_ The next day, Yuuki disappeared yet again, with no reason or trace. Shiho suspected it was because of her father. He had always been suspicious…_

Yuuki sighed. How depressing. She stood up and stretched. Back in her own house, she found a water tight container and placed the pictures in there. Walking back to the water's edge, she let the water get her feet wet. Taking a deep breath, she placed the container into the water and let the current take it away. It's not destroyed, she told herself. It will just stay in the ocean. If anyone finds it, they wouldn't know what to do with it. If they threw it away, at least I wouldn't be there to see it.

VvV

As Alice walked along the shores of another beach, she thought back to the time of when she had let the pictures float away on the current. That was perhaps a month or so before she had been shrunk? All of the Detective Boys were at the beach, having a blast. Including Leiko. There was just something about her that Alice just didn't seem to like. As usual, Alice was wearing a jacket even though it was sunny. She didn't feel like swimming.

It was a very nice sunny day, unlike the horrid stormy weather they had been having for the past week. Haibara came up to her.

"Hey, I think I have something that belongs to you."

"Huh?" Haibara handed Alice a jar. She stared at it. "Wait… This is really weird…"

"Well, you left it on the beach here, so I thought I'd let you know."

"Where'd you find this?" Alice demanded. "Why's it here?"

Haibara shrugged. "It was on the beach when we got here."

Alice stared at the jar in shock. Inside was a note along with the pictures. She took the note out. _I know where you are, White Dove. -Signed, Martini _

That worried Alice. A lot.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So, the first part was Yuuki thinking of her childhood, and then it comes back to the present where Alice is thinking of the time she was Yuuki. :) Uh, hope that made sense...

REVIEW! :)


	7. Chapter 6 Oh no

Chapter 6

Alice watched the daily activities of everyone around her. Conan had left early today, and Ran was at karate practice. She had gone to Haibara's place to find no one home. She sighed, and walked to the park. She found the Detective Boys there, plotting and scheming. She came up behind them, watching them whisper to each other.

"What are you all doing?" She asked, putting on her innocent face.

They all jumped. "Oh, it's Alice-chan," said Ayumi. "We were just talking about how Conan-kun always does things without us."  
>"What do you mean?"<p>

"Conan always tells us to go home or something, so we don't get to do a lot of things."

"I'm sure that's not true; he must have his reasons for doing the things he does."

Ayumi frowned as if it was incomprehensible to her. "What? Why shouldn't the Detective Boys get to do things too?"

Alice shrugged and said nothing in response. _I think I can get why Conan doesn't like being a kid. It's troublesome. _

The rest of the Detective Boys huddled again.

"Hey, Sakura-san, don't you live with Conan-kun? Where'd he go today? We all saw him walk down the street today," Mitsuhiko asked.

"How should I know where he went? I don't keep track of him." _He and Haibara went to Leiko's house. As if I would tell you that; he didn't even tell me._

Ayumi studied Alice's face. "You're hiding something."

Alice laughed and said, "No, of course I'm not!"

Ayumi glared. "Yes, you are." She crossed her arms and pouted.

Genta and Mitsuhiko watched as the two girls glared at each other. "Cat fight?" Genta whispered to Mitsuhiko. "Let's leave…" The two boys quietly slipped away.

Watching them leave, Alice tilted her head. "Why are you so annoyed today, Ayumi-chan? Did I do something wrong, and if so, I'm sorry."

A few minutes later, the two girls were sitting on the edge of the water fountain, watching the water drops make pretty patterns on the surface. "Ayumi-chan, is something bothering you?"

Ayumi looked at Alice with a serious face. "Alice-chan, you like Conan-kun, right?"

"Huh?" Alice was surprised by the small comment. "Why should I like that guy? Why should I like boys at all?"

"So… You DON'T like Conan-kun?"

"I like him as a friend. Why, do you like Conan-kun, Ayumi-chan?"

The little girl started to turn red.

"I get the message. You know, I don't think it's such a good idea to like people at your age."

"But you're the same age as me!"

Coughing, Alice turned away and almost choked. _Geez, and now I have to watch who I'm talking to and how I talk. It's so TROUBLESOME, but I guess I can handle it sometimes._ "What I meant is that it's sort of strange to like someone while we're in elementary school. What is the good of doing that?"

Ayumi glanced at Alice. It seemed like Alice was talking as if from experience. But Alice was the same age as her, so… obviously not. Hopefully.

"So… You like Conan-kun…" Alice had an evil glint in her eyes. _Things will certainly get interesting. _"But do you hate it when Haibara-san is close to him?"

"No! Ai-chan is our friend, so I don't mind at all… I guess."

"Hm."

There was a long pause.

"All right. Yes, I do mind sometimes. But I can't do anything about it-"

Alice cut her off. "What would you do if Haibara-san actually _did_ like Conan-kun? How would you react?"

There was a shrug, and Alice went silent. Then Ayumi asked, "Alice-chan, why do you seem to act like you hate boys?"

This time, Alice _did _choke. But she got ahold of herself and tried to breathe normally. "I don't hate them, I just think that they're not really needed in some situations. It sucks when they complicate love matters just because they don't notice a girl's feelings. They hurt them and break their spirit. That's why I think it's not a very good idea to get into relationships, especially at age seven."

The little girl was bewildered at the meaning of Alice's words.

"Okay, how about this. Think: Is this love, or is this just like? And when does like become love?"

"Alice-chan, you have a strange way of thinking."

"I hear that often. So, I think I'll leave this conversation at that. I really don't want to talk any more about this mushy love stuff. It does get on my nerves after a while."

At that, Alice said her goodbyes to the small girl and went on her way toward the library.

VVV

When Alice got back to the detective agency, she noticed Conan was being strangely distant. She got the feeling that something had happened while she had been at the park talking to Ayumi, but she decided to wait and see if he would tell her anything.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Urgh... And this was a totally random chapter... Just because I had the urge to update and this is what happens. This is also what happens when I write stuff when I'm tired. Sorry all, but please wait for more!

I'm serious, the next chapter will be totally more interesting.

I promise, I'm not dead.

Review. Otherwise, I feel like no one's reading my stuff, and I get the lack of energy to update.

And sorry for any grammar/spelling/any other types of mistakes. And sorry this was so randomly short.


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